A Sermon
Presented by Rev. Merlin T. Batt,
Intentional Interim Pastor
St. Matthew’s United Church of Christ
Maiden, North Carolina
Eighth Sunday in Ordinary Time
May 25, 2008

Scripture Lesson: Matthew 6:25-34
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The early part of last week Adele and I drove to Baltimore to visit briefly with family members – her mother, her two sisters and their spouses. As I said, it was a brief visit – we drove 9 hours to Baltimore on Monday, spent Tuesday visiting, and then drove 9 more hours back to North Carolina on Wednesday.

On the drive north on Monday we were proceeding along I-81 somewhere near Roanoke, Virginia, when a vehicle passed us in the left lane. I had set the cruise control to 65, so I know how fast I was going at the time. The car passing us must have been doing at least 75.

I looked to my left as the car whizzed by, and this is what I saw: a woman driving alone; her two large dogs in the back seat, each one at an open rear window, head sticking out and barking wildly; the woman talking animatedly on her cell phone, while at the same time reaching across and rummaging through the open glove compartment.

I said to Adele what I later realized was a sexist comment, “Look at that!” I said. “I’ll bet she’s reaching for her lipstick, which she will put on by looking in the rear view mirror, while talking on the phone over the deafening sound of barking dogs, while traveling 75 miles per hour on the busy interstate!”

After I calmed down, I realized that what we had just witnessed was an expression of what we all struggle with in one way or another – the reality of getting distracted from pursuing our primary purpose. In the case of the woman driving along I-81, her primary purpose was getting to her destination safely, without injuring other people in the process. But getting in her way was the distraction of barking dogs, the sound of road noise, a telephone conversation, rummaging around in her glove compartment, and probably the radio blaring, all at the same time.

Jesus was concerned about his followers becoming distracted, distracted from pursuing their primary purpose in life. And he observed that one of their major distractions was worry. That’s what prompted him, as he went about preaching and teaching, to say to his disciples and to anyone who came to hear him speak in village after village, “…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?”

You see, he had watched the birds wheeling around, high up on the currents of air among the Galilean hills and over the wide lake, simply enjoying being alive. He observed that they never seemed to do the sort of work that people did, and yet for the most part stayed alive and well. So he often said, “Look at the birds of the air; they neither sow nor reap nor gather in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Then, growing up in Nazareth and traveling around the lush hills of Galilee as a young man and later as an adult, Jesus had watched a thousand different kinds of flowers growing in the rich soil. He noted their fragile beauty, nothing short of a glorious beauty, God-given, and exquisite; so he often said in his sermons, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you – you of little faith?”
 
The lesson Jesus derived from his observations of the world around him and from his personal experience of his Father’s love prompted him to say: “Therefore, do not worry, saying, ‘What will we drink?’ or ‘What will we eat?’ or ‘What will we wear?’ For it is the Gentiles who strive for all these things; and indeed your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.”

Worrying about these and surely other things, claimed Jesus, was a huge distraction from pursuing life’s main purpose, which he said was to “strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” If you keep this purpose first (said Jesus), then all these other things – the stuff you need like food and clothing and so on – will be provided as well. In other words, the necessary stuff will be provided in adequate measure when you keep focused on first things, when you don’t let distractions get you off track. The point was priorities, making first things first. That was Jesus’ personal experience, and it was his promise to all who would follow in his Way.

And, because Jesus lived it himself, his message was persuasive. As some say, he didn’t just talk the talk; he walked the walk! And that’s one reason so many people were attracted to Jesus, came out to hear him, and in some cases even gave up everything to follow him.

Generally speaking, the Gospels portray Jesus as a happy person, a man free of debilitating worry. Of course, we remember the time he wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. We can assume he was saddened by the refusal of people to trust God and interpret correctly the wonderful things he was doing. We are well aware of scene in Gethsemane where Jesus wrestled with his Father’s will, and sweat drops of blood as he agonized over the path of obedience set before him. There were dark moments in Jesus’ life, but they are exceptions.

For the most part, Jesus wasn’t always looking ahead anxiously. He didn’t try to make the present moment count only because of what might happen next. No, Jesus had the ability to live fully in the present, and give his full attention to what he was doing, while celebrating his Father’s goodness and generosity in the here and now. That is Jesus’ recipe for happiness, for living a life without worry.

But there have always been those, and maybe some of us here today, who think that living free of worry is simply impossible, as impossible, say, as living without breathing! And for some, those who like being perceived as worry-warts, (for them) living without worry is not only impossible, but in some dark way, also undesirable! Sadly, these will not be persuaded by Jesus’ example of living without worrying, nor open to his invitation to live in such a way that first things are kept first, unless, of course, the Holy Spirit comes to breathe new life and healing into the souls beset by worry and anxiety.

I suppose there have always been things to worry about. But, unlike previous generations, we are bombarded with anxiety-producing information all the time. Cable news streams at us all day and all night, repeating and magnifying news events. Screaming headlines appear on cell phones and i-pods. Radio, television, newspapers – all stay in business by focusing on the frightening, the alarming, the negative, and the threatening.

The current focus of worry is, of course, the soaring price of oil and consequently gasoline, and not far behind are the weakening economy, the fall in home values, the declining strength of the dollar, the escalating increase in the cost of healthcare, the longest war in American history, and the sense that our political leaders don’t have the foggiest notion of how to deal with these things. Added to these are the everyday concerns people have about health, and family members, and grades, and church issues and so on. Ours is an anxious time, a time when there is so much anxiety in the air that it’s easy to let it rub off on us, to keep us in a state of worry, distracted from our primary purpose.

So, regularly, we need to hear Jesus invite us to live free of worry and  remind us about priorities, “I tell you, do not worry about your life…But strive first for the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things (the stuff you need to live) will be given to you as well.”

In other words, Jesus is telling you to keep your life focused on first things, on living the way he commands; and when you do, you will find that the necessities of life look after themselves. That doesn’t mean that you should stop working and sit on your hands, waiting for God to provide “all these things.” He doesn’t want you to ignore the challenges life brings to you. You’re not to bury your head in the sand as if God is going to take care of everything without your being involved. Rather, keep focused on first things, minimize the distractions, and all other things will fall into place. That’s what our Lord promises to those who follow him. It’s his promise to you.

I especially like the way Eugene Peterson has paraphrased our Gospel text for today. Receive these words as addressed to you personally:

What I’m trying to do here is to get you to relax, to not be so preoccupied with getting, so you can respond to God’s giving. People who don’t’ know God and the way he works fuss over these things,  but you know both God and how he works. Steep your life in God-reality, God-initiative, God-provisions. Don’t worry about missing out. You’ll find all your everyday human concerns will be met.

Give your entire attention to what God is doing right now, and don’t get worked up about what may or may not happen tomorrow. God will help you deal with whatever hard things come up when the time comes.

This is Jesus’ recipe for happiness. Freedom from worry and life-constricting anxiety will be found in no other way.

To Jesus Christ, who loves us
and freed us from our sins by his blood
and made us to be a kingdom,
priests of his God and Father,
to him to glory and dominion for ever and ever.
Amen.